I started gardening, which is an awesome thing. Unfortunately I am extremely allergic to something that grows in the community garden I work out of. It could be the weird Hemlock plants, it could be the slightly touched hippy chick that stands in the mud barefoot (unconcerned about what sort of worms may be crawling into her feet).

Since I don't want to get dopesick from sudafed or keep wiping my nose and itching like Pookie in New Jack City, I must do something. That something is brew Nettle Tea.

Here's the deal: Nettles have naturally occurring antihistamine properties. If you make a tea out of it you will have less allergy problems. I tried this today and it works.


In order to do this you will need:

1. Nettle leaves (available at Rainbow grocery store or Scarlet Sage herb shop. It's pretty cheap, three bucks gets you more than enough to try it out)

2.Some sort of strainer (I have this re-usable coffee filter that worked pretty well)

3. Tea pot, hot water, etc.

4. This is optional, but just in case the leafy dirt like taste of the nettles isn't for you, cut open a tea bag full of something you like to drink (I used a honeyed green tea) and mix the nettle in with it. There are all sorts of recipes online about other herbs you can get that compliment the nettle, but I thought just keeping it simple for now would be best.

I won't go into the important details of boiling water, pouring it through the strainer, and whatnot. There's probably a youtube video of how to brew tea. I let my mix brew for about four minutes. Bitterness is something I look for in a cup of tea, so this long steep works for me. Your mileage may vary.

Anyway, this is easy, it works. Try it out.